• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.193-193
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• 2006

Fluorescent dyes were encapsulated in the nanometer-sized diblock copolymer micelles to control the fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Since acceptor molecules and donor molecules were effectively isolated in the independent micelles, the energy transfer between donors and acceptors was suppressed by the site isolation, leading to the simultaneous emission from both donor and acceptor molecules.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.330-336
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• 2007

Luminescent CdSe/ZnS QDs, with emission in the red region of the spectrum, were synthesized and encapsulated in poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactide) diblock copolymer micelles, to prepare water-soluble, bio-compatible QD micelles. PEG-PLA diblock copolymers were synthesized by ring opening polymerization of D,L-lactide, in the presence of methoxy PEG as a macro initiator. QDs were encapsulated with PEG-PLA polymers using a solid dispersion method in chloroform. The resultant polymer micelles, with encapsulated QDs, were characterized using various analytical techniques, such as UV- Vis measurement, light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic forced microscopy (AFM). The polymer micelles, with encapsulated QDs, were spherical and showed diameters in the range of 20-150 nm. The encapsulated QDs were highly luminescent, and have high potential for applications in biomedical imaging and detection.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.53-56
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• 2008

This study proposes a simple nano-patterning process for the fabrication of magnetic nanodot arrays on a large area substrate. Ni nanodots were fabricated on a large area (4 inches in diameter) Si substrate using the soft lithographic technique using self-assembled surface micelles of Polystyrene-block-Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) diblock copolymer formed at the air/water interface as a mask. The hexagonal array of micelles was successfully transferred to a Ni thin film on a Si substrate using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. After ion-mill dry etching, a magnetic Ni nanodot array with a regular hexagon array structure was obtained. The Ni nanodot array showed in-plane easy axis magnetization and typical soft magnetic properties.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.227-232
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• 2007

The use of various shearing apparatuses to study the phase behavior of poly(styrene-b-isoprene) diblock copolymer micelles is described. A DMTA rheometer was modified so that one can apply oscillatory shear and obtain the scattering pattern along the shear gradient direction. A cone and plate shear cell was designed to access scattering along the shear vorticity direction, and both oscillatory and steady shear can be applied. The most popular way to employ steady shear on relatively low viscosity fluids is to use a Couette cell, because a high shear rate can be readily achieved without disturbing the sample by overflow. In this work, oscillatory shear was used to obtain a single crystal-like scattering pattern, and thereby to examine the mechanism of the thermotropic transition between face-centered cubic (fcc) and body-centered cubic (bcc) lattices. By applying the steady shear, the response of the fcc lattices to various shear rates is discussed.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.344-351
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• 2005

pH-sensitive block copolymers were synthesized by coupling reaction of sulfamethazine and amphiphilic diblock copolymer, and their micellization-demicellization behavior was investigated. Sulfamethazine (SM), a derivative of sulfonamide, was introduced as a pH responsive moiety while methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)poly(D,L-lactide) (MPEG-PDLLA) and methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly($D,L-lactide-co-{\varepsilon}-caprolactone$) (MPEG-PCLA) were used as biodegradable amphiphilic diblock copolymers. After the sulfamethazine was carboxylated by the reaction with succinic anhydride, the diblock copolymer was conjugated with sulfamethazine by coupling reaction in the presence of DCC. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and mean diameter of the micelles were examined at various pH conditions through fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. For MPEG-PDLLA-SM and MPEG-PCLA-SM solutions, the pH-dependent micellization-demicellization was achieved within a narrow pH band, which was not observed in the MPEG-PDLLA and MPEG-PCLA solutions. The micelle showed a spherical morphology and had a very narrow size distribution. This pH-sensitive block copolymer shows potential as a site-targeted drug carrier.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.485-489
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• 2009

The temperature dependence of the structure of micelles formed by a deuterated polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer (dPS-PEO) in heavy water were investigated with small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). SANS data were analyzed using the hard-sphere structure factor in combination with the form factor of a core-shell model. The micelle aggregation number and corona radius were obtained from the fits to the SANS data. The micelle aggregation numbers varied with temperature from 229 at $25^{\circ}C$ to 240 at $45^{\circ}C$, with a corresponding increase in the core radius. However, the shell thickness of micelles decreased with increasing temperature from 6.2 to 5.8 nm. These structural changes of micelles might be ascribed to the decrease in the hydration volume per hydrophilic group in the corona because of the increase in hydrophobicity of the PEO block with increasing temperature.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2008

Spherical micelles of poly(styrene-b-isoprene) (SI) diblock copolymers in selective solvents have been reported to pack onto either face-centered cubic (fcc) or body-centered cubic (bcc) lattices. The selection rule for fcc and bcc lattices has been understood in terms of the intermicellar potentials, and they have been quantified using the ratio of the corona layer thickness to the core radius, $L/R_c$, as suggested by McConnell and Gast. In order to test the validity of the McConnell-Gast criterion, this study compared the $L/R_c$ values from various solutions i.e. nine SI copolymers in several different selective solvents. The McConnell-Gast criterion was not found to be a determining factor, even though it could explain the fcc/bcc selection qualitatively. From the phase diagrams, the transition between fcc and bcc phases was also considered as a function of concentration and temperature, and their physical mechanisms are discussed based on the recent mean-field calculation reported by Grason.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.127-133
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• 2004

We have studied the surface micelle formation of polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) at the air-water interface. A series of four PS-b-P2VPs were synthesized by anionic polymerization, keeping the PS block length constant (28 kg/㏖) and varying the P2VP block length (1, 11, 28, or 59 kg/㏖). The surface pressure-area ($\pi$-A) isotherms were measured and the surface morphology was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) after Langmuir-Blodgett film deposition onto silicon wafers. At low surface pressure, the hydrophobic PS blocks aggregate to form pancake-like micelle cores and the hydrophilic P2VP block chains spread on the water surface to form a corona-like monolayer. The surface area occupied by a block copolymer is proportional to the molecular weight of the P2VP block and identical to the surface area occupied by a homo-P2VP. It indicates that the entire surface is covered by the P2VP monolayer and the PS micelle cores lie on the P2VP monolayer. As the surface pressure is increased, the $\pi$-A isotherm shows a transition region where the surface pressure does not change much with the film compression. In this transition region, which displays high compressibility, the P2VP blocks restructure from the monolayer and spread at the air-water interface. After the transition, the Langmuir film becomes much less compressible. In this high-surface-pressure regime, the PS cores cover practically the entire surface area, as observed by AFM and the limiting area of the film. All the diblock copolymers formed circular micelles, except for the block copolymer having a very short P2VP block (1 kg/㏖), which formed large, non-uniform PS aggregates. By mixing with the block copolymer having a longer P2VP block (11 kg/㏖), we observed rod-shaped micelles, which indicates that the morphology of the surfaces micelles can be controlled by adjusting the average composition of block copolymers.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1539-1544
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• 2008

A polymeric micelle, based on the poly(benzyl-L-histidine)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (polyBz-His-b-PEG) diblock copolymer, was designed as a tumor-specific targeting carrier. The micelles (particle size: 67-80 nm, critical micelle concentration (CMC); 2-3 $\mu$g/mL) were formed from the diafilteration method at pH 7.4, as a result of self-assembly of the polyBz-His block at the core and PEG block on the shell. Removing benzyl (Bz) group from polyBz-His block provided pH-sensitivity of the micellar core; the micelles were physically destabilized in the pH range of pH 7.4-5.5, depending on the content of the His group free from Bz group. The ionization of His group at a slightly acidic pH promoted the deformation of the interior core. These pHdependent physical changes of the micelles provide the mechanism for pH-triggering anticancer drug (e.g., doxorubicin: DOX) release from the micelle in response to the tumor’s extracellular pH range (pH 7.2-6.5).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2008

We investigated the programmable memory characteristics of nanoparticle-based memory devices based on the elementary metal nanoparticles (Co and Au) and their binary mixture synthesized by a micellar route to ordered arrays of metal nanoparticles as charge trapping layers. According to the metal nanoparticle species quite different programming/erasing efficiencies were observed, resulting in the tunable memory characteristics at the same programming/erasing bias conditions. This finding will be a good implication for further device scaling and novel device applications since most processes are based on the conventional semiconductor processes.